How many folks out there track the macros/food/drinks they consume throughout their day?
Whether that’s by manually writing everything down in a food log, or entering everything in an app, it can be a useful tool.
If you’re trying to lose weight, gain muscle, or understand more about the foods you put into your body, it is great to further investigate how foods affect our moods and body.
Are there however any adverse effects of food tracking?
If you are struggling with intestinal issues or bloating from certain foods, or are trying an elimination diet to better understand food allergies, tracking your food can be phenomenal!
As someone who started tracking her food to compete in the bodybuilding world, I can vouch for the wonderful components of food tracking. It helped me to better understand the exact protein/fat/carb ratio of anything I consumed. I can also tell you how controlling it can become, if you allow it to be.
At first, it was fun inputting everything I ate into the ‘My Fitness Pal’ app. I loved watching how my pie chart of proteins/fats/carbs adjusted throughout the day as I ate certain foods. I became obsessed with it - seeing how far I could push the envelope. Could I eat only protein for an entire day? Eating copious amounts of egg whites, chicken & fish helped me achieve that. There was not a day of food tracking I missed. I loved seeing how tweaking my food choices could adjust how my body reacted, just like turning the dial on a radio can tune into a specific station, so could eating or avoiding certain foods help me achieve stage-perfection.
Fast forward to today and after going through a bout with Colon Cancer, I still track my foods, but for different reasons. I love looking at the micro-nutrients foods contain. Seeing the amount of Calcium I get from eating greens, keeping Potassium contents at a good level and regulating the amount of Iron foods contain is super intriguing.
Is tracking your food the ‘Be-All and End-All?’ Absolutely not! Is it nice to look at, especially if you are trying to hit certain food goals, yes!
Try it out for a while. See how well you can educate yourself on specific food components and some of the hidden levels of sodium, fats, etc. Just try not to let it control your mindset, become an obsession, or control your life.
Happy tracking friends!
